AI use causing ‘boiling frog’ effect on human brain, study warns
Turning to AI to complete tasks may be eroding people's ability to make an effort to think for themselves and makes them more likely to give up, new research has found.
This could leave us in a "boiling frog" scenario, in which the capabilities of our brains are progressively compromised as we lean on AI more heavily, the study warns.
An international team of researchers from the University of Oxford, MIT, UCLA and Carnegie Mellon said their research provides evidence for two alarming consequences of using AI to help complete tasks: "Reduced persistence and impairment of unassisted performance.”
It is worth suggesting an alternative view here - that AI and the wider internet may possibly reduce the boiling frog effect for those paying attention.
Taking it further - it is almost possible to divide people politically into those who notice the boiling frog effect affecting their lives and those who don't. Governments and politicians have always known about it. As the AI explanation says -
Explanation of the Concept
The boiling frog effect is based on an anecdote in which a frog is placed in a pot of water that is slowly heated. The story suggests that if the temperature increases gradually, the frog does not perceive the danger and is eventually boiled alive. While this story is not literally accurate in biology, it serves as a powerful metaphor for human perception and behavior. The key idea is that gradual changes are often overlooked, whereas sudden changes would trigger an immediate response.
Explanation of the Concept
The boiling frog effect is based on an anecdote in which a frog is placed in a pot of water that is slowly heated. The story suggests that if the temperature increases gradually, the frog does not perceive the danger and is eventually boiled alive. While this story is not literally accurate in biology, it serves as a powerful metaphor for human perception and behavior. The key idea is that gradual changes are often overlooked, whereas sudden changes would trigger an immediate response.
11 comments:
It's not just boiling frogs, AKH but boiling crustaceans too ... there's talk now of it being cruelty while they're still alive.
"The boiling frog effect"
I had hoped for something on President Micron and Global Warming.
And yet we happily offload repetitive skills to unconscious habits. How many times do people drive to work during the rush hour but cannot recall the journey? I know I did.
A hidden risk with AI is that it will increase the amount of leisure time available to us - and what shall we fill that time with?
Boiling frog eh?
Macron in a big pot on a fire, chaps with bones through their noses waiting for the feast.
One says to another "I'll bet it tastes like chicken".
“… and what shall we fill that time with?’
My wife will have no trouble at all telling me how to fill that time.
The (two now) generations reared on pocket calculators are frequently at a complete loss when asked to perform even the most basic of arithmetic tasks like calculating change or calculating a percentage so, given that IT has been a staple feature of education for twenty years or so, it’s probably already too late, at least for anyone under 30.
The frog has already been boiled; it just hasn’t stopped twitching yet.
James - oh dear, that probably incudes using a wooden spoon to poke crabs down into the boiling water when they have their legs stretched out.
dearieme - yes if he isn't feeling the heat by now he should be.
DJ - it's possible that our ancestors would think we have far too much leisure now and much of what we think of as work wouldn't be work in their eyes.
Mike - ha ha, very good, bound to taste like chicken.
Peter - that sounds familiar, mothers were good at that too.
Macheath - I'm sure you are right, I find it's not uncommon to see younger people working something out on phone or calculator when I've already worked it out in my head.
I refuse to use technology to 'remember' things for me when I know I know the answer. Even if it means wracking my brains out and even waking up at 0300 with a light bulb moment. Is it a bit outré to use technology to call the person who wanted the answer at 0300?
Tony - it is a bit outré unless it's something important like the name of a school friend you both couldn't remember. I tend to go through the alphabet with something like a name I can't quite remember. Sometimes it works.
That's exactly what I do too.
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